Rating: 
Summary: Spectacle
Review: "Vatel", is a beautiful film to watch, with the staged entertainments providing the cinematography for a story that tries to keep up with the visual displays. Seventeenth Century France is the setting for this true story of Vatel, the master steward that is charged with entertaining the King during his visit to his employer's home. Gerard Depardieu plays Vatel and is supported by a wonderful cast including Uma Thurman, Tim Roth, Julian Glover, Timothy Spall, and Julian Sands. Roth's character is a bit reminiscent of the insouciant character he played in, "Rob Roy".This costume period piece is one of the better that I have seen. The DVD includes a mini documentary specifically on the costuming that is well worth watching. I do wish they offered as much insight in to the entertainments that were created by Vatel. Even the food is remarkable with the detailed creation of flower arrangements and vases made entirely from candy that are indistinguishable from their living, or crystal counterparts. The story goes beyond pure spectacle to include unrequited love, and the same displays that are so spectacular, also are portrayed as such egregious excess that the invention of the guillotine is very understandable. The pampering of the King is shown to a level that goes beyond absurd to almost obscene. The hundreds upon hundreds of people that are exploited for the most outrageous frivolity for the royal court's amusement foretell of the day the peasants will destroy the caricatures the King and his court are. The causes of tragedy in this film are many; there is love, and also the realization of what it is people are used for as opposed to what they believe they create. There is an illusion of control and responsibility that once dispelled is devastating. The story is not the strongest, but the beauty of the film makes it a very worthwhile event to watch.
Rating: 
Summary: The dignity's triumph against the decay
Review: A brave and overwhelming movie. Ronald Joffe (a true master director)(The mission) describes carefully the efforts and creative virtues of Vatel, a true artist in the sense of that Jean Renoir statement: The art is not a job; it's the way you make that job".
All the corrupt and decadent atmosphere that surrounds the Kingdom and the Court of Louis XIV are shown through a powerful script and very brief but also bitter dialogues, and an amazing employment of the visual and corporal languages. The direction is first rate , the astonishing visual angles are supported by a descriptive style, breathtaking "travellings" , monumental images and a superb cast. Depardieu show us once more why he's a living legend and one of the top twenty actors in the world; the exquisite and exceptionally gifted and beautiful Uma Thurman gives probably the most powerful performance in her career and obviously Tim Roth, amazing as always.
Watch this film. You'll be widely rewarded.
You'll feel and experience that special rapture , a trademark of the masterpieces
Rating:
Summary: Royal Flush
Review: A sumptuous, somewhat flawed film directed by Roland Joffé (Gaumont, 2000), the outdoor scenes were shot at Vaux-le-Vicomte even though the story takes place at Chantilly (actually Le Notre's favorite garden). The festivities staged in the gardens are nothing short of fantastic 'Baroque' spectacles and the riches (and decadence) of the aristocracy are lavishly unpacked in a film that might have also packed a suitably revolutionary message if it had not, instead, descended to the bathetic in charting the romantic pas-de-deux twixt Head Steward (Gerard Depardieu) and Lady in Waiting (Uma Thurman). Depardieu continues to add his bulk to the French national trade surplus and lays in one of his more natural roles similar to his Jean Valjean in Les Miserables (also released in 2000). Uma Thurman and Tim Roth do their best to cop airs, and Julian Sands disappears under a mountainous wig as the Sun King, Louis XIV. Visit the Gaumont web site for a taste of the stylish (modish) accoutrements of this visually ambitious film. Note: This is not so much a Merchant-Ivory 'full house' (costume drama) as it is a 'royal flush' (operatic carnival) in terms of extravagant artistic rendering of time and place (lacking undue and mawkish or slavish attention to historical precision). The screenplay by Jeanne Labrune and Tom Stoppard is on par with Stoppard's work in John Madden's maddening Shakespeare in Love. Madden's film was marred by a wastrel (cheeky) sensibility and Gwyneth Paltrow (as Viola) should never, never, never have triumphed over Cate Blanchett (in Shekhar Kapur's Elizabeth) at the 1999 Academy Awards. Actually, Stoppard saved the production of the Madden film from a certain muddleheadedness, at the very last moment, and Miramax handed him a pile of money in appreciation. His role in Vatel was similar, in that he co-wrote the script adding his characteristic bons mots and jazzing up the intellectual pedigree.
Rating:
Summary: Royal Flush
Review: A sumptuous, somewhat flawed film directed by Roland Joffé (Gaumont, 2000), the outdoor scenes were shot at Vaux-le-Vicomte even though the story takes place at Chantilly (actually Le Notre's favorite garden). The festivities staged in the gardens are nothing short of fantastic 'Baroque' spectacles and the riches (and decadence) of the aristocracy are lavishly unpacked in a film that might have also packed a suitably revolutionary message if it had not, instead, descended to the bathetic in charting the romantic pas-de-deux twixt Head Steward (Gerard Depardieu) and Lady in Waiting (Uma Thurman). Depardieu continues to add his bulk to the French national trade surplus and lays in one of his more natural roles similar to his Jean Valjean in Les Miserables (also released in 2000). Uma Thurman and Tim Roth do their best to cop airs, and Julian Sands disappears under a mountainous wig as the Sun King, Louis XIV. Visit the Gaumont web site for a taste of the stylish (modish) accoutrements of this visually ambitious film. Note: This is not so much a Merchant-Ivory 'full house' (costume drama) as it is a 'royal flush' (operatic carnival) in terms of extravagant artistic rendering of time and place (lacking undue and mawkish or slavish attention to historical precision). The screenplay by Jeanne Labrune and Tom Stoppard is on par with Stoppard's work in John Madden's maddening Shakespeare in Love. Madden's film was marred by a wastrel (cheeky) sensibility and Gwyneth Paltrow (as Viola) should never, never, never have triumphed over Cate Blanchett (in Shekhar Kapur's Elizabeth) at the 1999 Academy Awards. Actually, Stoppard saved the production of the Madden film from a certain muddleheadedness, at the very last moment, and Miramax handed him a pile of money in appreciation. His role in Vatel was similar, in that he co-wrote the script adding his characteristic bons mots and jazzing up the intellectual pedigree.
Rating:
Summary: Elegant, absorbing historical epic from France
Review: Chances are you've never heard of either Vatel, the movie, or Vatel, the legendary French historical figure. The movie was a huge hit in Europe but little seen in America. As for Vatel himself, he may have been a footnote in history, but he' a fascinating one. Vatel is a costume drama set on a lavish French estate in the 17th Century. There are those who simply do not like movies that take place in the distant past, and there's nothing that can change that. This attitude has little to do with our times. These films have always turned some people off. Sixty years ago, the head of a major studio turned to one of his assistants and said, "I don't want to see any more movies where people write with feathers!" He hated such pictures, even though they had made a fortune for his company. I personally enjoy them. Recently, I saw an interview with a costume designer who pointed out that they are as close as we are likely to get to time travel. It is the time of Louis XIV, the Sun King. He was the man who built Versailles, perhaps the most opulent palace ever conceived. Actually, he was something of a control freak. By keeping many of the lords and ladies of France at Versailles, he could keep an eye on them. Countries then were not nearly as unified as they are today. Intrigue was everywhere, and keeping one's throne, as well as one's head, was a tricky business. Louis kept both. Gourville [Timothy Spall] was a man with an opulent lifestyle and very little cash. He was also a great general, and the threat of war with Holland brought a letter from Louis [Julian Sand] announcing his intention of coming to Gourville's chateau to visit for several days. The king's assistant, Marquise De Cauzan [Tim Roth], implied that, if the visit was pleasurable to Louis, Gourville would head the army in the fight with Holland. The money he would be paid would make him rich again. He went to Vatel [Gerard Depardieu], the master of his household, and begged him to put on a magnificent show for the king. Vatel was a clever man and was trained in many arts. The feasts, dances and entertainments he created for the king's stay are said to have been some of the most opulent ever devised. It was all a great success, but Vatel could never have imagined the price he would pay for his efforts or the effect the beautiful Anne de Menausier [Uma Thruman], who was travelling with the king, would have on him. This is one of the most lavish films around, and it's an old-fashioned lavish, not the new kind that's cleverly composed with computer graphics. The sets and the costumes are amazing, and I broke into a sweat just thinking about the work that went into them While director Roland Jaffe says that you cannot really recreate the past because you will always put a modern spin on it that audiences can relate to, he has certainly done a fine job of giving us a grand illusion of life in the 17th Century. Despite all the sumptuous trappings, he still manages to focus on the characters, all played by marvelous actors. Not only is Vatel wonderful to look at, it tells a wonderful story as well.
Rating:
Summary: THE MALE MARTHA STEWART TO A LOUIS XIV PARTY
Review: Gerard Depardieu is Vatel, the Martha Stewart to the Prince de Conde when the Sun King, Louis XIV, drops by for a banquet and entertainment in the ultra-lavish "VATEL." This French production directed by Roland Joffe, from an original French screenplay by Jeanne Labrune adapted into an English version by highly regarded playwright Tom Stoppard is based on a real man and an actual incident. The time is 1671. Julian Glover is Prince Conde, who is bankrupt but seeks a royal appointment to wage war on the contumelious Dutch. If he can put on a lavish enough reception, then Julian Sand's King Louis may reverse his fortunes. But all depends on Depardieu's master steward Vatel creating and directing a big enough spectacle -- on credit with promises of payment after-the-fact -- for the all the senses of the king and his sycophants. But in between the King and Vatel there is Uma Thurman's Anne de Montausier, the King's beautiful, and not quite morally benumbed "lady-in-waiting". Tim Roth is the magniloquent Marquis de Lauzan one of the monarch's carousing buddies. Murray Lachlan Young is the repellent king's brother with an unquenchable penchant for buggering little boys. More than any movie of recent memory, this remarkable film is about indulgence and display in conflict with the moral decay festering under the glitzy surface like a deadly mold. This staggeringly extravagant, unrestrained and somehow desperate festival at the center of this ultimately tragic melodrama evokes an alternate world that is both past and very much present (hint: a social class politically neutralized by the pursuit of pleasure). Miramax is distributing this stunning widescreen DVD with little fanfare, maybe intimidated by the critics who didn't "get it." The incredible production design alone is worth the ticket. But this is much more than an elaborate costume drama and Depardieu as the brilliant but conflicted artist who discovers his conscience is remarkably understated and real. I loved this movie. This fabulous moral fable based on fact is a satisfying feast for the eyes and mind. Highly recommended.
Rating: 
Summary: Great art direction, little else
Review: Gerard Depardieu plays a steward of a French Prince who must win the favor of King Louis IV by lavishing him with amazingly extravagant banquets. Uma Thurman and Tim Roth join Depardieu in sleepwalking through their uninspiring performances, delivered in English despite being based on actual events in French history. The art direction during the banquets is very impressive, but there is little else of interest in this tale of aristocratic decadence and trickery. The only extra on the DVD is a very short piece supposedly (but hardly actually) about the film's costumes. This is one DVD that could definitely benefit from the typical extras such as a commentary track to help us get a notion as to why the film was ever produced. Fans of period costume pieces should watch ones with more substance such as Moulin Rouge, Shakespeare in Love, or Rob Roy.
Rating:
Summary: A moving, beautiful, excellent film
Review: I can not praise enough this wonderful film.
Lavish production values, a wonderful script, excellent actors directed most effectively, all add up to a truly fine film. Don't be put off because it's a period piece -- it's a love story that transcends time, and a movie you'll remember forever and will want to recommend to your friends.
Rating:
Summary: A moving, beautiful, excellent film
Review: I can not praise enough this wonderful film.
Lavish production values, a wonderful script, excellent actors directed most effectively, all add up to a truly fine film. Don't be put off because it's a period piece -- it's a love story that transcends time, and a movie you'll remember forever and will want to recommend to your friends.
Rating:
Summary: A fine spectacle, but paper-thin story
Review: I have a soft spot for custom dramas. I enjoy all the lavish customs, the meticulously researched sets and the witty and elegant banter unachievable in non-celloid life.
With that said, I didn't like Vatel, which had all of the above qualities. This is due to a lack of remotely serviceable story. Louis the 14th is visiting the estate of Prince de Conde, who hopes to wrangle an army commande from the king to pay off his heavy debts. His faithful steward, Vatel, is charged with ensuring that the King's visit will be memorable one. Vatel is a genius in all the arts of housekeeping and entertaining, a veritable 17th century Martha Stewart. Of course, when the House of Bourbon come a calling, the word "entertaining" acquire a whole new level of meaning. Throughout the movie we are treated to one dazzling set piece after another of Vatel's epic efforts. Unfortunately, the highlights are overshadowed by very underwhelming story and characters. The central romance between Vatel and the lady-in-waiting generate less electricity than a AAA battery, and is implausible to boot. Bobbing along in the movie is a theme of a decent man standing up to a world of corruption. But with most of the filmmaker's effort focused on the lavish parties, it quickly gets lost amidst all the fireworks, ice-sculptures and food-preparation. Of course, all that is pretty enjoyable to watch. Your eyes will have a feast, but it's mostly empty calories.
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